


Missing Pieces

by lunaficsforbadflics (lalunaunita)



Series: Death Race One-Shots (all/any Death Race films) [1]
Category: Death Race 2050 (2017)
Genre: Child Death, Gen, Not Beta Read, addition to the film, annie and frankenstein get to know one another better, mention of a child getting killed, no beta we die like men, takes place during the second night of the race
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 07:26:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19825348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalunaunita/pseuds/lunaficsforbadflics
Summary: Conflicted about her role in the attempt on Frankenstein's life, Annie chats up Frankenstein after Jed Perfectus attacks him in their hotel room.





	Missing Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So this is my first bad movie fic, written for the 2017 film Death Race 2050 (sequel to 1975's Death Race 2000). 
> 
> PLEASE READ THE TAGS if you haven't already.
> 
> I don't recommend watching any of the Death Race movies unless you like gore and lots of it. I tolerate gore for the action scenes, the dystopian settings and characters, and the political satire. In addition to gore, there's lampooning of political figures, toxic masculinity, people who hide their intelligence, and the tendency of the masses to be sheep when entertainment is involved (could this film even be poking fun at its own audience? probably).  
> I was pleasantly surprised with the cast in this film and I loved Annie Sullivan and Frankenstein. So here is a "missing scene" on the second night of the race, after Annie has a change of heart and decides to help Frankenstein instead of kill him.

Annie's hands stung with the force of her blow to Jed's head and she dropped the fireplace poker she held. Jed Perfectus fell to the floor like a sack of wet cement. Beyond him, in the darkened hotel room, Frankenstein stood with his chest heaving. Annie surveyed the scene, rubbing one wrist. She'd obviously interrupted at exactly the right time.

Frankenstein said nothing. He grabbed one of Jed's shapely ankles and dragged him, unconscious, into the hall. With a final grunt, he dropped the leg of the nearly-naked man in the middle of the hotel hallway. He stomped back into his room, Annie wisely slipping in ahead of him, and slammed the door. She melted into the shadows as the cybernetic racer lifted and threw an antique wooden demi-lune against the opposite wall, shattering it into matchsticks.

"Asshole," he muttered to himself.

Annie could almost believe he'd forgotten she was there, but then he turned to her.

"I suppose you want a thank you," Frankenstein said, lifting murderous eyes to hers.

She shook her head. "No, we're all good."

The corners of his mouth turned up in an unlikely smile. "Good, then. Why are you here?"

He didn't speak harshly, despite having thrown her out less than two hours ago. She didn't blame him for that. She _had_ tried to assassinate him earlier in the day. She wondered if she should be scared of him. Frankenstein wasn't the least bit enervated, even on the back end of what had clearly been an energetic altercation with Jed. Annie considered her answer, the alcohol she'd consumed down in the bar burning in her gut and her veins. 

Swaying a bit on her feet, she answered, "I want to help you win the race."

* * *

A glass of water and a couple of butterfly closures later, the pair sat quietly on a king-sized bed they were meant to share. Frankenstein waited patiently as Annie picked through the repair kit he kept for his cybernetic hand. Punching Jed sure had felt good, but it hadn't done the mechanisms any favors. He hissed as Annie tightened a screw, but relaxed as she adjusted it further. It was just his luck that a Resistance plant would turn out to be mechanically inclined, too. She inserted a pair of needle nose pliers and he felt sensation return to his fingertips. She glanced up to find him watching her.

"So how did you lose the hand?" Annie asked.

Frankenstein grunted a laugh. Blunt.

"Racing, of course. How else?" he answered, quirking an eyebrow.

She returned her attention to the open wrist before her, awkward silence descending. "Oh."

Frankenstein shook his head. "No, it was a childhood accident. The Chairman likes to play it up as a race injury - maintains the allure or something. Funny enough, it _is_ from getting run over - but just the hand."

Curiously, Annie winced. "I'm sorry."

Her reaction puzzled him. "Why would you be sorry?"

"That's a hard thing for a kid to go through, Frankenstein. I'm sure it wasn't fun. Still isn't, by the look of things. How many times have you had it replaced?" she asked as she set the screwdriver aside and picked up a soldering iron.

She handed him the pliers, which he held in place as she soldered down a wayward connection. The knuckles of his hand involuntarily flexed. Ah, that was it. With her lips pursed, she took back the pliers then closed up the seam in his arm. Distracted, Frankenstein almost forgot she'd asked him a question. He cast back into his memory.

"Once every two years until I was full grown. Now it's about once every five years unless I can keep up the maintenance, which is hard to do one-handed. Free cybernetic care from the government is one of the 'perks' of being a racer, but God help you if you need a quick appointment. You know how it is." Frankenstein finished.

He lifted the newly functional hand between them and balled it into a fist, then flexed the fingers to full extension. Annie nodded approval and rolled up the toolkit.

"Thanks," he said. "Truly."

"It'll do for now, but you probably want to get that appointment request in," she replied with a smirk that morphed into a yawn.

"It's late. You should get some sleep," suggested Frankenstein.

Annie shook her head, her blond hair falling into her eyes. "I'm still too amped up. I might wander around the hotel a little more. Had a good conversation with Minerva down in the bar."

Frankenstein stared at her. It was Annie's turn to quirk an eyebrow.

"She's not what you think she is. The inscrutable 'Frankenstein' isn't the only facade being used around here." She didn't elaborate further and Frankenstein was too tired to press it further.

"Why did you join the Resistance?" he asked instead, and saw that he caught her off guard.

"I...um. It's a long story." Annie sank back onto the edge of the bed.

She was silent for a bit and Frankenstein wondered if he'd pushed too far. Then she straightened with a sigh.

"Believe it or not, I used to cover the Death Race. It wasn't my favorite assignment, but reporters go where the boss tells them to. I'd go to towns on the Transamerican Route - on purpose - and I would find a place to hunker down. I'd watch the action and try to turn it into a newsworthy article." 

"Going to a city on the route during Death Race is potentially suicidal," Frankenstein commented.

Annie shrugged. "I thought it was worth it. Then about three years ago, I was perched safely in the third story of a hotel on a main thoroughfare - perfect place to watch the racers come through. Or so I thought. Instead, I saw a toddler wander out of a house across the street. She wasn't even wearing shoes. Mom and Dad were busy watching Death Race on VR. The racers came blasting through, and..." Annie clenched her eyes closed against the memory and brought trembling fingers to her mouth.

Unexpected sympathy welled up in Frankenstein. "You don't have to tell me."

Annie gave one sniff and shook her head. When she opened her eyes, they were clear. "I followed up with the mother a year later. Convinced my editor it would be a good human interest piece. I don't know how I got him to agree, honestly. The mother surprised me. She spent six straight months in VR on opioids after her daughter's death. Then one day, she woke up and decided she didn't want any part of her life anymore. She stopped watching TV altogether and got clean. She got sterilized. She didn't want any other kids, she just wanted her daughter back. She knew it could never happen. I asked her what she was living for now. She said justice for her child, and preventing any other innocent deaths. She inspired me. After that, I stopped watching the races too. She recruited me into the Resistance... and you know the rest."

Frankenstein nodded and stood. Annie clutched the bed's comforter against the sudden shift in weight.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Somewhere the other racers are less likely to find me. Now that my hand's in good working order, I don't really feel like throwing down with anyone else tonight," he replied. "Lock the door behind me."

This time, Annie didn't resist the huge yawn that overtook her. "Okay, Frankenstein. I'll check on you later."

Frankenstein exited the hotel room. He stepped carelessly over Jed's sprawled form, still embarrassingly clad in golden shortpants and not much else. His face was purpling beautifully to contrast with the ensemble, or lack thereof. Frankenstein was nearly ready to count Annie as a friend instead of a foe, but he'd have to wait and see what tomorrow would bring. No matter her loyalties, he'd still win the race. At any cost.


End file.
